Thomas Dickens

In August of 1870, the brutal murder of Colonel Thomas Dickins was reported in the Memphis Avalanche. According to the article, Col. Dickins, returning to his farm near Raleigh, "was way-laid by some fiend, and his life destroyed, in daylight, on a public road."

The assassin had ambushed the victim and fired both barrels of a shotgun into Col. Dickins' body from close range.